The younger version of me was so ready. So ready to explore and turn over every stone.

Go, go, go!!!!

After turning over many stones, I can say that life has been good. Still, I’ve realized that what once “did it” for me no longer does. There came a point when I bought all the cool things, went to many cool places, and met lots of cool people. While it is true that I still indulge in such things from time to time, I’ve found that simple daily and weekly rituals actually calm my nervous system, in a better way than any of the “big” stuff could.

1. Slow Mornings– As I’ve grown older, I tend to wake up long before my alarm clock rings. Lately, I’ve been waking up between four and five in the morning. No matter how hard I try I can’t get back to sleep. This new inconvenience has unlocked something I didn’t know I needed.

Slow mornings.

Since I’m awake a couple of hours before I need to be “on” for the day, I’ve been taking advantage of the extra time. I use these moments to contemplate the day, meditate, eat breakfast, drink my coffee, and prepare a suitable, intentional look to carry me though the rest of the day. Slow mornings are therapeutic for me because I no longer feel chaotic and flustered at the beginning of the day. Now, each day, the first couple of hours are just for me. I feel less cheated, as if life is giving me something back that I’d been missing out on all those years before. Slow mornings have set a new precedent for daily living.

2. Early Morning Grocery Shopping– If this isn’t one of the greatest cheat codes in life, I don’t know what is. Saturday tends to be the day of the week I’ve reserved for grocery shopping. Since I wake up early, I prefer to leave the house not long after wake-up to shop in a calm, quiet, and relatively empty grocery store. Of course, there are other early risers like myself there, but the crowds of people and chaos are not. I’ve found that there are mostly people shopping alone in early mornings which makes shopping an even calmer experience. Why?

1. I don’t have to listen to incessant chatter, people talking on speaker phone, and crying childre
2. it’s easy to navigate the aisles without someone hovering behind me to reach something on the shelf or darting out of the aisle nearly colliding with me
3. I can actually hear the music playing in the background. The music is usually something from the 80s or early 90s when I was very young. Nostalgia!
4. I can hear myself think, so I never forget anything on my grocery list after my early grocery store runs

Who knew that getting to the grocery store before 9 am could add a new layer of peace in life?

3. Reading with a Mug of Hot Tea– In the age of never-ending screens, whether they be television, computers, or phones- we’re staring into one for the better part of most of our days. One habit that has never left me is the joy of holding a physical copy of a book in my hands. The “icing on the cake” to the book is a cup of hot tea with a teaspoon of sugar to sip on as I thoroughly enjoy reading my latest book. This ritual is common for me in the evenings right before I turn in for the night. I love it because it helps me wind down from the day and prevents me from staring into my phone before bedtime. It has been said that spending time scrolling on a phone is not good for sleep anyways. What better then, to indulge in a great reading session before hitting the hay.

Well, those are my three simple rituals. Will I turn over more stones, get out and explore, or find more people, experiences and adventures to do “big” things? I’m certain that I will. Finding the joy and serenity in the simple rituals of everyday life hasn’t erased my desire for the big things at all.

What my three simple rituals have done is uncover a level of gratitude that wasn’t always there, slowing me down to experience calm, minimal distractions, and presence of mind. These are the moments reserved for clearer thinking about where I am now and what should come next.

My younger self would say that the me of today is boring. But today’s version of me understands the necessary balance that life requires. So, I shall continue indulging in the three rituals, as they have served me well and are the pieces of the puzzle to carry me to my next level in life.